Spring 2012 - Lourdes College

Leading aninstitutionIn the early 1980s,Sisters Marie AndréeChorzempa and AnnFrancis Klimkowskiworked together, leadingLourdes College on its path tooffering bachelor degrees. AsActing President and ActingDean of Academics respectively,they worked tirelessly with anunwavering faith. A dynamicteam, the two complementedeach other with Sr. MarieAndrée’s wealth of experiencepreparing for and serving onaccreditation visits and Sr. AnnFrancis’ business expertise.“After the second of two on-sitevisits, the accreditation teamwas skeptical that we couldpull it off – offering bachelor’sdegrees,” recalls Sr. MarieAndrée. Sr. Ann Francis adds, “Iwill never forget Sr. MargueritePolcyn standing up and saying,‘I beg to differ. We have highlycredentialed people in thiscollege. They will do very well.’”Sisters Marie Andrée and AnnFrancis succeeded and in 1982,Lourdes College receivedaccreditation to grant bachelor’sdegrees in religious studies andindividualized studies. In thatyear, Lourdes reached recordenrollment with 762 registeredstudents.These incredible Franciscanwomen religious each left anindelible mark on the institutionduring their time as President.Together, they establishedthe first Lourdes EcumenicalLecture to foster an ecumenicalatmosphere that has evolvedinto an interfaith program.Sr. Marie AndréeChorzempa, OSF,Lourdes College PresidentIn 1980, the Board of Trustees,comprised primarily of Sistersbut also several dedicated layprofessionals, voted to movethe institution to four-yearstatus. With Sr. Marie Andréeleading Lourdes from 1981-1983, the Development Officewas established with theSisters providing the first everendowed gift. Throughout thearduous accreditation processto achieve four-year status, itwas her guidance, leadershipand implementation ofrecommendations that led tothe 1982 milestone. In that year,tuition was set at $40 per credithour and was used to fund thenew academic programs, facultyand staff.Sr. Ann FrancisKlimkowski, OSF,Lourdes College PresidentSr. Ann Francis who hadestablished the Lourdes LifelongLearning Center in 1979,received her doctorate in highereducation from The Universityof Toledo in 1983 and was soonafter installed as President.ATLOURDES MAGAZINE | Spring 2012 13